Chapter Text
Sometimes he would spend his afternoons by going to the park and picking up litter. He hated how people could be so negligent to the environment, polluting the earth and then the water with trash due to their carelessness. He’d already cleaned up the parks in Uptown Gotham, gathering several bags full of trash. He decided to branch out and traveled to a larger park he’d heard of, Robinson Park. Much of the park was overgrown and he left the plants be, sticking along the path and cleaning up the trash.
“What are you doing here,” asked a woman accusingly, stepping out from amidst the trees. She had red hair and a surprising green tint to her skin.
“I’m picking up trash, I hate when people litter, our natural spaces should be preserved,” Jackson replied.
She nodded, “That’s good, I will permit you to continue, just be careful not to damage the plants.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Are you the Dryad of this park?” he asked.
“I guess you could say that,” she replied, sounding amused, “You’re not from around here, are you?”
“What gave it away? I’ve been working on making my accent blend in,” he said.
“You don’t recognize me. People call me Poison Ivy,” she replied.
“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ivy,” he said. She nodded in acknowledgement and left, leaving him to continue to pick up trash.
He enjoyed his afternoon, it really was a beautiful park with lots of happy trees and vibrant foliage. It made sense that this park flourishing in such a harsh city had a Dryad protector.
He made more than enough money from his job to cover his food expenses and to have some leftover. He wanted to eat some more varied food but he didn’t have anywhere to store perishable food and he didn’t want to waste any. He decided to find people, especially kids, to share his food with. It would also satisfy his desire to protect kids.
He’d noticed kids begging in Crime Alley and the Bowery, he sometimes gave them a few spare dollars. One Thursday, he bought a loaf of bread and jars of jelly and peanut butter and got a couple plastic knives from a restaurant for it. He went to the Bowery and found one of the kids who he’d given money to a time before.
“Hey, I was gonna make some sandwiches to eat and I won’t eat a full loaf of bread in one sitting, I’m happy to share if you or anyone you know would be interested,” He offered gently.
The kid gave him a suspicious look before his stomach grumbled, he was hungry, and he agreed, “Alright, but we’re staying somewhere public,” the kid asserted. They went to a picnic table at a public park and he started making sandwiches, one for the kid first then one for himself. He ate four sandwiches total, he had a big appetite, and the kid ate two sandwiches and took one to go.
“So, what’s your name?” the kid asked him.
“You can call me Blue. What’s should I call you?” Blue said.
“You can call me Ash,” the Ash said. He figured Ash looked around 12 yers old.
“You recruiting for something?” Ash asked suspiciously.
“Nah, just genuinely wanted to share, I’d feel bad if I wasted food. And it’s good to do good in the world and help people when I can,” Blue replied.
“You homeless?” Ash asked.
“Yeah, guessing you are too?” Blue said.
“I ain’t telling you my sleeping spot,” Ash said suspiciously.
“I wouldn’t expect you to, I’ve got my own situation figured out, even have a job. Not enough for rent, mind, but enough to keep me well fed and have some leftover,” Blue said.
“Which gang you working for?” Ash said.
“I’m not, just working washing dishes at a restaurant, as far as I know it’s not even a mob front,” Blue replied.
Ash waved over a couple of kids who had been lurking around watching them.
“These are friends of mine, can they eat too?” Ash asked.
“Of course, there’s still enough bread left for 4 more sandwiches, so each of you can have two,” Blue said.
“Thanks,” one of the kids, a redheaded girl said as he handed her a sandwich, “You can call me Lily by the way.”
“Nice to meet you, Lily,” Blue said politely. The other kid didn’t introduce himself. They finished eating the sandwiches and one of the kids took the heels of the bread to eat as well.
“Well, I should be going. Maybe I’ll be back next week and we could have a picnic again,” Blue offered.
He came back the next week, with a loaf of bread, a tomato, a package of deli meat turkey, and some cheese. He even had a few packages of mayo he’d snagged from a restaurant he ate at yesterday, along with some napkins. He met up with Ash and Lily and a couple other kids joined them. Some of the kids were cleaner than the others and he vaguely got the impression that not all of them were homeless, some of them likely had homes but weren’t well fed at them, especially since it was summer and they weren’t getting food at school.
He made himself a nice sandwich first and set it to the side and then he made each of the kids a sandwich, asking if they had any preferences on the toppings. All of them wanted the main sandwich toppings though it was an even mix of which ones wanted mayo and which ones didn’t. He handed out the sandwiches. He'd used up most of the toppings except for some cheese and there were still slices of bread left. He ate his first sandwich then had a much more plain sandwich that was just a slice of cheese on bread. He asked if any of the other kids wanted a cheese sandwich and they did, and he handed those out, finishing off the food.
“Same time next week, yeah?” Blue offered in a friendly voice before leaving. Lily smiled back at him, agreeing. He made a habit of it, bringing food for the kids.
One week, in addition to bringing bread and peanut butter and jelly for sandwiches, he bought a big container of Neapolitan ice cream along with a package of basic ice cream cones. Scooping the ice cream with the plastic spoons he had was difficult, but he managed it. And the kids were so very happy about the ice cream, it warmed his heart to see them so happy about the ice cream. More and more kids joined them over time and he started buying two loaves of bread instead.
He was walking through the Bowery to meet up with the kids when he heard a scream, it sounded like a little girl. He dropped the bag of food he was carrying and ran towards the noise, he saw a redheaded girl he recognized, Lily, struggling against 3 men who were trying to get her into a black van. She was around 11 years old, one of the street kids around here.
He immediately leaped into action. He drew his knife and started attacking the kidnappers, he slashed at the arm of one of them as he freed Lily from their grip. “Run!” he told her as he continued fighting off the creeps. He stabbed one of the attackers in the stomach, taking him down. One of the men kicked him hard in the ankle, throwing off his balance. He stabbed them in the leg and the 3rd man got him with a taser to the back. He tried to fight through the pain but he couldn’t control his convulsing muscles while he was electrocuted. He was electrocuted until he was knocked unconscious, and the kidnappers loaded him into the van.